


When

by Glitter_and_Gold



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, NedCat Spring Event, first fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 04:52:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18358982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitter_and_Gold/pseuds/Glitter_and_Gold
Summary: “Don’t fight it Cat,” he murmured, moving his head away from her neck and pressing his forehead against her own. His eyes were dark with lust but there was a tenderness there too, something secret and desperate in his gaze. She was surprised at the moan that bubbled in her throat at seeing him like this, soft, unguarded and utterly hers.For the "soft" prompt in the NedCat spring event on tumblr





	When

When she had first married Ned, he had seemed so frightening to her. Brandon had been so easy to read, a charming smile that set her heart fluttering every time and eyes which loved all that they saw. Ned was almost cold in comparison, with his sad eyes and stony face that she couldn’t read. It unnerved her, being unable to determine what he was thinking and even when she spoke with him, their conversation had been short.

When they had retired to their chambers, he had gestured slowly towards her, his hand sweeping up and down to indicate her dress.

“You look very beautiful, my lady.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

He had nodded slowly before he had stepped towards her, and Catelyn thought he had meant to kiss her. But he had taken her hands in his own and she had felt heat at the roughness of his palms beneath her fingertips, a sudden want and need to feel them against other parts of her.

“I know I am not Brandon,” he had whispered and Catelyn had taken a sharp breath, the heat she had felt disappearing as quickly as it had come. “But I promise I will try to make you happy, my lady.”

She had nodded, accepting his promise and had tilted her head up in invitation for a kiss, something he had willingly agreed to.

Ned had been gentle with her as they consummated their marriage. Of course, she had known that such acts were a duty, a need for a heir and she had not expected desperate clutches or frantic kisses swallowing moans. But the girlish part of her was still disappointed at how Ned could still seem so stoic and methodical in such an act.

***

When she had first heard that Ned was building a sept for her in Winterfell, she had felt, for the first time, that perhaps she could love Ned truly and completely. It had taken her months to invite him back into her bed after she had discovered about his bastard Jon, but when he did something like this, it made her think that perhaps he might care for her too, for more than her ability to have his children.

Their couplings had grown to be a little less duty-fueled, sometimes, she even felt a strange fluttering in her belly that she couldn’t understand but she never mentioned to Ned, too scared that if he thought something was wrong with her then he would find comfort in the arms of another woman once more and bring back another bastard child.

When the sept was built, she had lit the candles before the mother and prayed that she and Ned would have another child soon.

***

When she had first witnessed Ned being summoned to deal with men who had fled from The Wall, she had started to understand why he must remain as though he were a statue made flesh, unfeeling and unnerved, always silently regarding the situation around him. A soldier still to this day, even after the Rebellion had ended.

After, she had watched him clean his sword in the Godswood and she had laid a hand across her belly where their second child was growing within her, as though seeking strength from this Stark child inside her, seeking permission to enter this sacred place.

He must have heard her before she had whipped up the courage to move, his eyes meeting hers. Normally, Catelyn had noticed, they were like steel as they appraised the world around him but for a brief second, she thought they looked soft, like a calm winter’s lake.

“Are you alright my lord?”

He chuckled softly, his hand reaching for her and his fingers stroking the back of her hand tenderly.

“After three years, do I still have to ask you to call me Ned?”

She smiled in return, turning her hand so that she could grasp his properly. “I suppose you do, my lord.”

***

When Ned had told her that he would be going to deal with the Greyjoys, she had felt panic rising through her and clutching at her throat.

“No,” she had growled, making Ned’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “You’ve done more than enough for Robert. Let him find someone else.”

“There is nobody else,” Ned retorted, rubbing a hand over his face.

“You can’t leave,” she insisted. _What if you come back with another bastard child? What if you don’t come back at all?_

“Cat,” he murmured and the use of such a word stopped her in her tracks, she only associated the word with Riverrun, her family and her childhood. It made her heart flutter, hearing it fall from Ned’s lips.

She opened her mouth, ready to continue her protest as Ned stood and advanced towards her with the same measured expression he always wore. Impossible to read, impossible to figure out but so easy to fall in love with.

His hands were around her waist and in her hair before his mouth claimed her own. And she was on his desk before she knew it, her fingers fumbling with the laces of his jerkin, his hands pushing down her corset to reveal her breasts.

She gasped, long and loud when he entered her, her fingers digging half-moons into his skin. His breath was warm against her neck as he panted against her, his hips snapping desperately against her own and she could feel it building inside of her, that strange sensation that always started in her belly, the feeling she always tried to keep buried and hidden.

“Don’t fight it Cat,” he murmured, moving his head away from her neck and pressing his forehead against her own. His eyes were dark with lust but there was a tenderness there too, something secret and desperate in his gaze. She was surprised at the moan that bubbled in her throat at seeing him like this, soft, unguarded and utterly hers.

He crooned soft endearments against her ear as she tensed and fluttered and whimpered around him, her head pressing against his shoulder as she fought for her breath while he finished.

When Ned whispered that he loved her for the first time, she had smiled and wondered how she had never come to the realisation before.


End file.
